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Since 2007, when ABC Radio (also known as Cumulus Media Networks) was sold to Citadel Broadcasting, ABC has reduced its broadcasting operations almost exclusively to television. The fifth-oldest major broadcasting network in the world and the youngest of the Big Three television networks, ABC is often nicknamed as "the Alphabet Network", as its initialism also represents the first three letters of the English alphabet, in order.

ABC originally launched on October 12, 1943, as a radio network, separated from and serving as the successor to the NBC Blue Network, which had been purchased by Edward J. Noble. It extended its operations to television in 1948, following in the footsteps of established broadcast networks CBS and NBC. In the mid-1950s, ABC merged with United Paramount Theatres, a chain of movie theaters that formerly operated as a subsidiary of Paramount Pictures. Leonard Goldenson, who had been the head of UPT, made the new television network profitable by helping develop and greenlight many successful series. In the 1980s, after purchasing an 80% interest in cable sports channel ESPN, the network's corporate parent, American Broadcasting Companies, Inc., merged with Capital Cities Communications, owner of several print publications, and television and radio stations. In 1996, most of Capital Cities/ABC's assets were purchased by The Walt Disney Company.

In 1934, Mutual filed a complaint with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regarding its difficulties in establishing new stations, in a radio market that was already being saturated by NBC and CBS.[5] In 1938, the FCC began a series of investigations into the practices of radio networks[5] and published its report on the broadcasting of network radio programs in 1940. The report recommended that RCA give up control of either NBC Red or NBC Blue.[4] At that time, the NBC Red Network was the principal radio network in the United States and, according to the FCC, RCA was using NBC Blue to eliminate any hint of competition. Having no power over the networks themselves, the FCC established a regulation forbidding licenses to be issued for radio stations if they were affiliated with a network which already owned multiple networks[4] that provided content of public interest.[5]

Once Mutual's appeals against the FCC were rejected, RCA decided to sell NBC Blue in 1941, and gave the mandate to do so to Mark Woods.[6] RCA converted the NBC Blue Network into an independent subsidiary, formally divorcing the operations of NBC Red and NBC Blue on January 8, 1942,[5][7] with the Blue Network being referred to on-air as either "Blue" or "Blue Network".[8] The newly separated NBC Red and NBC Blue divided their respective corporate assets. Between 1942 and 1943, Woods offered to sell the entire NBC Blue Network,[9][10] a package that included leases on landlines, three pending television licenses (WJZ-TV in New York City, KGO-TV in San Francisco and WENR-TV in Chicago), 60 affiliates, four operations facilities (in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington D.C.), contracts with actors, and the brand associated with the Blue Network. Investment firm Dillon, Read & Co. (which was later acquired by the Swiss Bank Corporation in 1997) offered $7.5 million to purchase the network, but the offer was rejected by Woods and RCA president David Sarnoff.[9]

Edward John Noble, the owner of Life Savers candy, drugstore chain Rexall and New York City radio station WMCA, purchased the network for $8 million.[4][5] Due to FCC ownership rules, the transaction, which was to include the purchase of three RCA stations by Noble, would require him to resell his station with the FCC's approval.[9] The Commission authorized the transaction on October 12, 1943.[6][11] Soon afterward, the Blue Network was purchased by the new company Noble founded, the American Broadcasting System.[5] Noble subsequently acquired the rights to the "American Broadcasting Company" name from George B. Storer in 1944; its parent company adopted the corporate name American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.[5][9] Woods retained his position as president and CEO of ABC until December 1949, and was subsequently promoted to vice-chairman of the board before leaving ABC altogether on June 30, 1951.[12]

Meanwhile, in August 1944, the West Coast division of the Blue Network, which owned San Francisco radio station KGO, bought Los Angeles station KECA from Earle C. Anthony for $800,000.[13] Both stations were then managed by Don Searle, the vice-president of the Blue Network's West Coast division.[14]

Entry into television (1945–1949)

The ABC Radio Network created its audience slowly. The network's acquisition of Detroit radio station WXYZ from KingTrendle Broadcasting in 1946 for a little less than $3 million (and which remained under ABC ownership until 1984),[15] allowed it to acquire several radio serials, including The Lone Ranger, Sergeant Preston, and The Green Hornet, which had originated on that station.[16]

ABC became an aggressive competitor to NBC and CBS when, continuing NBC Blue's traditions of public service, it aired symphony performances conducted by Paul Whiteman,[5] performances from the Metropolitan Opera, and jazz concerts aired as part of its broadcast of The Chamber Music Society of Lower Basin Street announced by Milton Cross.[17] The network also became known for such suspenseful dramas as Sherlock Holmes, Gang Busters and Counterspy, as well as several mid-afternoon youth-oriented programs.[17] However, ABC made a name for itself by utilizing the practice of counterprogramming, with which it often placed shows of its own against the offerings of NBC and CBS, adopting the use of the Magnetophon tape recorder, brought to the U.S. from Nazi Germany after its conquest, to pre-record its programming.[16] With the help of the Magnetophon, ABC was able to provide its stars with greater freedom in terms of time, and also attract several big names, such as Bing Crosby[16] at a time when NBC and CBS did not allow pre-taped shows.

While its radio network was undergoing reconstruction, ABC found it difficult to avoid falling behind on the new medium of television.[18] To ensure a space, in 1947, ABC submitted five applications for television station licenses, one for each market where it owned and operated a radio station (New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Detroit).[19] These applications all requested for the stations to broadcast on VHFchannel 7, as Frank Marx, then ABC's vice-president of engineering, thought that the low-band VHF frequencies (corresponding to channels 2 through 6) would be requisitioned from broadcasting use and reallocated for the U.S. Army.[19]

The ABC television network made its debut on April 19, 1948, with WFIL-TV in Philadelphia (now WPVI-TV) becoming its first primary affiliate.[20] The first program ever broadcast on the network was On the Corner, featuring satirist Henry Morgan. Other stations carrying the initial broadcast were WMAR-TV in Baltimore, WMAL-TV in Washington, D.C. and WABD, the DuMont station in New York City, since ABC's New York station had yet to sign on.[21]

The network's flagship owned-and-operated station, WJZ-TV in New York City (later re-called WABC-TV), signed on the air on August 10, 1948,[20] with its first broadcast running for two hours that evening.[22] ABC's other owned-and-operated stations launched over the course of the next 13 months:[20] WENR-TV in Chicago signed on the air on September 17,[23] while WXYZ-TV in Detroit went on the air on October 9, 1948.[24] In October 1948, as a result of an influx of television station license applications that it had issued as well as a study it undertook on the use of the VHF spectrum for broadcasting purposes, the FCC implemented a freeze on new station applications.[25] However, KGO-TV in San Francisco, which had received its license prior to the freeze, made its debut on May 5, 1949.[26][27] On May 7, 1949, Billboard revealed that ABC had proposed an investment of $6.25 million, of which it would spend $2.5 million to convert 20 acres (80,937 m2) of land in Hollywood into what would become The Prospect Studios, and construct a transmitter on Mount Wilson, in anticipation of the launch of KECA-TV, which was scheduled to begin operations on August 1[28] (but would not actually sign on until September 16).[29][30]

In the fall of 1949, ABC found itself in the position of an outsider, with less coverage than two of its competing networks, CBS and NBC, even though it was on par with them in some major cities and had a headstart over its third rival at the time, the DuMont Television Network.[31] Before the freeze ended in 1952, there were only 108 existing television stations in the United States; a few major cities (such as Boston) had only two television stations, many other cities (such as Pittsburgh and St. Louis) had only one, and still many others (such as Denver and Portland) did not yet have any television service.[31] The result was an uneven transition period where television flourished in certain areas and network radio remained the sole source of broadcast entertainment and news in others.

American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres

At the end of 1949, movie theater operator United Paramount Theatres (UPT) was forced by the U.S. Supreme Court to become an independent entity, separating itself from Paramount Pictures.[32] For its part, ABC was on the verge of bankruptcy, with only five owned-and-operated stations and nine full-time affiliates.[33] Its revenues, which were related to advertising and were indexed compared to the number of listeners/viewers, failed to compensate for its heavy investments in purchasing and building stations. In 1951, a rumor even mentioned that the network would be sold to CBS.[19][34] In 1951, Noble held a 58% ownership stake in ABC,[35] giving him $5 million with which to prevent ABC from going bankrupt; as banks refused further credit,[36] that amount was obtained through a loan from the Prudential Insurance Company of America.[37]

Leonard Goldenson, the president of UPT (which sought to diversify itself at the time), approached Noble in 1951 on a proposal for UPT to purchase ABC.[36] Noble received other offers, including one from CBS founder William S. Paley; however, a merger with CBS would have forced that network to sell its New York City and Los Angeles stations at the very least.[38] Goldenson and Noble reached a tentative agreement in the late spring of 1951[36] in which UPT would acquire ABC and turn it into a subsidiary of the company that would retain autonomy in its management.[39] On June 6, 1951, the tentative agreement was approved by UPT's board of directors.[39] However, the transaction had to be approved by the FCC because of the presence of television networks and the recent separation between Paramount and UPT. Insofar as Paramount Pictures was already a shareholder in the DuMont Television Network, the FCC conducted a series of hearings to ensure whether Paramount was truly separated from United Paramount Theatres, and whether it was violating antitrust laws.[18]

In 1952, when the release of the FCC's Sixth Report and Order announced the end of its freeze on new station license applications, among the issues the Commission was slated to address was whether to approve the UPT-ABC merger.[25] One FCC Commissioner saw the possibility of ABC, funded by UPT, becoming a viable and competitive third television network.[40] On February 9, 1953, the FCC approved UPT's purchase of ABC in exchange for $25 million in shares.[40][41] The merged company, renamed American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres, Inc. and headquartered in the Paramount Building at 1501 Broadway in Manhattan,[42] owned six AM and several FM radio stations, five television stations and 644 cinemas in 300 U.S. cities.[37] To comply with FCC ownership restrictions in effect at the time that barred common ownership of two television stations in the same market, UPT sold its Chicago television station, WBKB-TV, to CBS (which subsequently changed the station's call letters to WBBM-TV) for $6 million,[43] while it kept ABC's existing Chicago station, WENR-TV. The merged company acquired the WBKB call letters for channel 7, which would eventually become WLS-TV.[44] Goldenson began to sell some of the older theaters to help finance the new television network.[37]

On May 1, 1953, ABC's New York City flagship stations – WJZ, WJZ-FM and WJZ-TV – changed their respective callsigns to WABC, WABC-FM and WABC-TV,[45] and moved their operations to facilities at 7 West 66th Street, one block away from Central Park.[37] The WABC call letters were previously used by the flagship station of CBS Radio (now WCBS (AM)) until 1946. The WJZ calls would later be reassigned to the then-ABC affiliate in Baltimore in 1959, in an historical nod to the fact that WJZ was originally established by the Baltimore station's owner at the time, Westinghouse.

However, a problem emerged regarding the directions taken by ABC and UPT. In 1950, Noble appointed Robert Kintner to be ABC's president while he himself served as its CEO, a position he would hold until his death in 1958.[18] Despite the promise of non-interference between ABC and UPT, Goldenson had to intervene in ABC's decisions because of financial problems and the FCC's long period of indecision. Goldenson added to the confusion when, in October 1954,[46] he proposed a merger between UPT and the DuMont Television Network, which was also mired in financial trouble.[18] As part of this merger, the network would have been renamed "ABC-DuMont" for five years, and DuMont would have received $5 million in cash, room on the schedule for existing DuMont programming, and guaranteed advertising time for DuMont Laboratories receivers.[18] In addition, to comply with FCC ownership restrictions, it would have been required to sell either WABC-TV or DuMont owned-and-operated station WABD in the New York City market, as well as two other stations.[18] The merged ABC-DuMont would have had the resources to compete with CBS and NBC.[46]

Goldenson sought to develop the ABC television network by trying to convince local stations to agree to affiliate with the network.[18] In doing this, he contacted local entrepreneurs who owned television stations themselves, many of whom had previously invested in Paramount cinemas and had worked with him when he undertook the responsibility of restructuring United Paramount Theatres.[18]

Hollywood begins to produce television series

At the same time he made attempts to help grow ABC, Goldenson had been trying since mid-1953 to provide content for the network by contacting his old acquaintances in Hollywood, with whom he had worked when UPT was a subsidiary of Paramount Pictures.[18] ABC's merger with UPT led to the creation of relationships with Hollywood's film production studios, breaking a quarantine that had existed at that time between film and television,[47] the latter of which had previously been more connected to radio. ABC's flagship productions at the time were The Lone Ranger, based on the radio program of the same title, and The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, the latter of which (at 14 seasons, running from 1952 to 1966) held the record for the longest-running prime time comedy in U.S. television history, until it was surpassed by The Simpsons in 2003.

Warner tried with mixed success to adapt some of its most successful films as ABC television series, and showcase these adaptations as part of the wheel seriesWarner Bros. Presents. Airing during the 1955–56 season, it showcased television adaptations of the 1942 films Kings Row and Casablanca; Cheyenne (adapted from the 1947 film Wyoming Kid); Sugarfoot (a remake of the 1954 film The Boy from Oklahoma); and Maverick.[47] However, the most iconic of ABC's relationships with Hollywood producers was its agreement with Walt Disney; after the start of the network's bond with the Disney studio, James Lewis Baughman, who worked as a columnist at that time, observed that "at ABC's headquarters in New York, the secretaries [were now] wearing hats with Mickey Mouse ears".[47]

Walt Disney and his brother Roy contacted Goldenson at the end of 1953[49] for ABC to agree to finance part of the Disneyland project in exchange for producing a television program for the network.[50][51][52] Walt wanted ABC to invest $500,000 and accrued a guarantee of $4.5 million in additional loans, a third of the budget intended for the park.[50][53] Around 1954, ABC agreed to finance Disneyland in exchange for the right to broadcast a new Sunday night program, Disneyland, which debuted on the network on October 27, 1954[50][51][52] as the first of many anthology television programs that Disney would broadcast over the course of the next 50 years.

When Disneyland opened on July 17, 1955, ABC aired a special live broadcast commemorating the park's first day of operation, Dateline: Disneyland.[54] Shortly thereafter, on October 3, 1955, a second regularly scheduled program produced by Disney made its debut, The Mickey Mouse Club, a children's program that aired Monday through Friday afternoons, which starred a group of 24 children known as the "Mouseketeers".[51][55]

Affiliate issues

By 1954, all U.S. networks had regained control of their programming, with higher advertising revenues: ABC's revenue increased by 67% (earning $26 million), NBC's went up by 30% ($100 million) and CBS's rose by 44% ($117 million).[56] However that year, ABC had only 14 primary affiliates compared to the 74 that carried the majority of CBS programs and the 71 that were primarily affiliated with NBC. Most markets outside the largest ones were not large enough to support three full-time network affiliates. In some markets that were large enough for a third full-time affiliate, the only available commercial allocation was on the less-desirable UHF band. Until the All-Channel Receiver Act (passed by Congress in 1961) mandated the inclusion of UHF tuning, most viewers needed to purchase a converter to be able to watch UHF stations, and the signal quality was marginal at best even with a converter. Additionally, during the analog television era, UHF stations were not adequately receivable in rugged terrain. These factors made many prospective station owners skittish about investing in a UHF station, especially one that would have had to take on an affiliation with a weaker network.

As a result, with the exception of the largest markets, ABC was relegated to secondary status on one or both of the existing stations, usually via off-hours clearances (a notable exception during this time was WKST-TV in Youngstown, Ohio, now WYTV, despite the small size of the surrounding market and its close proximity to Cleveland and Pittsburgh even decades before the city's economic collapse). According to Goldenson, this meant that an hour of ABC programming reported five times lower viewership than its competitors.[57] However, the network's intake of money at the time would allow it to accelerate its content production. Still, ABC's limited reach would continue to hobble it for the next two decades; several smaller markets would not grow large enough to support a full-time ABC affiliate until the 1960s, with some very small markets having to wait as late as the 1980s or even the advent of digital television in the 2000s, which allowed stations like WTRF-TV in Wheeling, West Virginia to begin airing ABC programming on a digital subchannel after airing the network's programs outside of recommended timeslots decades before.

The DuMont Television Network ceased broadcasting on September 15, 1955,[46] and went bankrupt the next year. ABC then found itself as the third U.S. television network, dubbed the "little third network",[58] but still continued to look for successful programming. That same year, Kintner was forced to resign due to disagreements between Noble and Goldenson,[18] a consequence of Goldenson's many interventions in ABC's management.[59]

Counterprogramming: successful, but criticized

In 2002, dancers and other cast members from the 32-year run of American Bandstand reunited with host Dick Clark to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the show's local television debut.

It was not until the late 1950s that the ABC network became a serious contender to NBC and CBS, and this was in large part due to the diverse range of programming that met the expectations of the public, such as westerns and detective series. Despite an almost 500% increase in advertising revenues between 1953 and 1958, the network only had a national reach of between 10% and 18% of the total U.S. population, as it still had relatively fewer affiliates than NBC and CBS.[60] In 1957, ABC Entertainment president Ollie Treiz discovered that the locally produced variety show Bandstand had pulled very strong ratings in the Philadelphia market on WFIL-TV; Treiz ultimately negotiated a deal to take the show national, under the revised title American Bandstand;[61] the show quickly became a social phenomenon by presenting new musical talent and dances to America's youth[61] and helped make a star out of its host, Dick Clark.

On September 3, 1958, the Disneyland anthology series was retitled Walt Disney Presents[52] as it became disassociated with the theme park of the same name. The movement in westerns, which ABC is credited for having started, represented a fifth of all primetime series on American television in January 1959, at which point detective shows were beginning to rise in popularity as well.[62] ABC requested additional productions from Disney.[63] In late 1958, Desilu Productions pitched its detective series The Untouchables to CBS; after that network rejected the show because of its use of violence, Desilu then presented it to ABC, which agreed to pick up the show,[64] and debuted The Untouchables in April 1959. The series went on to quickly become "immensely popular".[64]

These kinds of programs presented ABC with an image of the "philosophy of counterprogramming against its competitors", offering a strong lineup of programs that contrasted with those seen on its rival networks,[63] which helped Goldenson give the network a continuum between film and television.[65] ABC's western series (as well as series such as the actioner Zorro) went up against and defeated the variety shows aired by NBC and CBS in the fall of 1957, and its detective shows did the same in the fall of 1959. To captivate the network's audiences, short 66-minute series were scheduled a half-hour before their hour-long competition.[65] In May 1961, Life criticized the public enthusiasm and sponsorship for these types of shows at the expense of news programming and denounced an unofficial law "replacing the good programs with the bad ones".[66]

Transition to color (1960s)

During the 1960s, ABC continued on the same path that it began to take in the mid-1950s, by consolidating the network as part of its effort to gain loyalty from the public. The network's finances improved and allowed it to invest in other properties and programming. In May 1960, ABC purchased Chicago radio station WLS, which had shared airtime with WENR since the 1920s.[67] This acquisition allowed ABC to consolidate its presence in the market. On May 9, 1960, WLS launched a new lineup consisting of ABC Radio programming.[68] In 1960, Canadian entrepreneur John Bassett, who was trying to establish a television station in Toronto, sought the help of ABC to launch the station.[69] Leonard Goldenson agreed to acquire a 25% interest in CFTO-TV; however, legislation by the Canadian Radio-Television Commission prohibited ABC's involvement, resulting in the company withdrawing from the project before the station's launch.[69]

Children's programming and the debut of ABC Sports (1960–1965)

The "ABC Circle" logo, designed by Paul Rand, was introduced in a 1962 identification card.

The 1960s would be marked by the rise of family-oriented series in an attempt by ABC to counterprogram its established competitors, but the decade was also marked by the network's gradual transition to color.[70] On September 30, 1960, ABC premiered The Flintstones, another example of counterprogramming; although the animated series from William Hanna and Joseph Barbera was filmed in color from the beginning, it was initially broadcast in black-and-white, as ABC had not made the necessary technical upgrades to broadcast its programming in color at the time.[71]The Flintstones allowed ABC to present a novelty, that of prime-time animated programming, but it also allowed the network to begin filling the hole opened by the conclusion of the Disney partnership by carrying family-oriented programming from other producers.[71]

In 1959, Walt Disney Productions, having improved its financial situation, had purchased ABC's shares in the Disneyland theme park for $7.5 million[50] and initiated discussions to renew ABC's television contract for Walt Disney Presents, which was due to expire in 1961.[70] Walt Disney was approached by NBC to produce color broadcasts of his anthology series (which would be renamed Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color).[70] Goldenson said ABC could not counter the offer, because the network did not have the technical and financial resources to carry the program in the format.[70] As a result, ABC and Disney's first television collaboration ended in 1961[50] (the network would resume its relationship with Disney in 1985, when the anthology series returned to the network for a three-season run as the Disney Sunday Movie until it lost the rights to NBC again in 1988; the Disney anthology series would return to ABC in 1996, following the company's purchase of the future Capital Cities/ABC, as The Wonderful World of Disney).

Always in search of new programs that would help it compete with NBC and CBS, ABC's management believed that sports could be a major catalyst in improving the network's market share.[72] On April 29, 1961, ABC debuted Wide World of Sports, an anthology series created by Edgar Scherick through his company Sports Programs, Inc. and produced by a young Roone Arledge which featured a different sporting event each broadcast.[73][74] ABC purchased Sports Programs, Inc. in exchange for shares in the company,[75] leading it to become the future core of ABC Sports, with Arledge as the executive producer of that division's shows.[76]Wide World of Sports, in particular, was not merely devoted to a single sport, but rather to generally all sporting events.[72]

Due to pressure from film studios wanting to increase their production, as the major networks began airing theatrically released films,[77] ABC joined CBS and NBC in broadcasting films on Sunday nights in 1962, with the launch of the ABC Sunday Night Movie, which debuted a year behind its competitors and was initially presented in black-and-white.[77] Despite a significant increase in viewership (with its audience share having increased to 33% from the 15% share it had in 1953), ABC remained in third place; the company had a total revenue of $15.5 million, a third of the revenue pulled in by CBS at the same period.[77] To catch up, ABC followed up The Flintstones with another animated series from Hanna-Barbera, The Jetsons, which debuted on September 23, 1962 as the first television series to be broadcast in color on the network.[78] On April 1, 1963, ABC debuted the soap operaGeneral Hospital,[79] which would go on to become the television network's long-running entertainment program. That year also saw the premiere of The Fugitive (on September 17),[80] a drama series centering on a man on the run after being accused of committing a murder he did not commit.

The 1964–65 season was marked by the debuts of several classic series including Bewitched (on September 17)[81] and The Addams Family (on September 18). Arledge's success with acquiring prime sports content was confirmed in 1964 when he was appointed vice-president of ABC Sports.[82]

New regulations and the radio network's recovery (1966–1969)

It was not until the 1965–66 season that color became the dominant format for the three broadcast television networks. ABC, meanwhile, remained in third place and still needed money to grow itself into a major competitor. However, ABC's issues with its transition to color became secondary compared to the network's financial problems; in 1964, the network found itself, as Goldenson later wrote in the 1991 book Beating the Odds: The Untold Story Behind the Rise of ABC, "in the middle of a war [where] the battlefield was Wall Street".[83] Many companies sought to take over ABC, including Norton Simon,[77]General Electric, International Telephone and Telegraph[84] and Litton Industries.[85]

In 1965, the corporate entity, American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres, was renamed as the American Broadcasting Companies,[86][87] while its cinema division became ABC Theatres; its recording division was renamed ABC Records in 1966.[88] In December of that year, the ABC television network premiered The Dating Game, a pioneer series in its genre, which was a reworking of the blind date concept in which a suitor selected one of three contestants sight unseen based on the answers to selected questions. This was followed up in July 1966 by The Newlywed Game, featuring three recently married couples who guessed the responses to their partner's questions (some of which were fairly risque). As ABC began to outgrow its facilities at 7 West 66th Street, Goldenson found a new headquarters for ABC in a 44 story building located at 1330 Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan, at the corner of 54th Street[89][90] (now occupied by The Financial Times's New York office). This operation allowed for the conversion of the premises at 66th Street into production facilities for television and radio programs.[90]

On December 7, 1965, Goldenson announced a merger proposal with ITT to ABC management; the two companies agreed to the deal on April 27, 1966.[85] The FCC approved the merger on December 21, 1966; however, the previous day (December 20), Donald F. Turner, head antitrust regulator for the United States Department of Justice, expressed doubts related to such issues as the emerging cable television market,[91] and concerns over the journalistic integrity of ABC and how it could be influenced by the overseas ownership of ITT.[92] ITT management promised that the company would allow ABC to retain autonomy in the publishing business.[91] The merger was suspended, and a complaint was filed by the Department of Justice in July 1967, with ITT going to trial in October 1967; the merger was officially canceled after the trial's conclusion on January 1, 1968.[93]

On January 12, 1966, ABC replaced The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet with Batman, an action series based on the DC Comics series starring Adam West that was known for its kitschy style.[94] In 1967, WLS radio CEO Ralph Beaudin was appointed as the president of ABC Radio.[95] Under his leadership, ABC Radio was divided into four "networks" devoted to different types of programming: news, informative series, pop music, and talk shows.[95] Two other networks were later created to provide rock music and traffic reporting.

In 1968, ABC took advantage of new FCC ownership regulations that allowed broadcasting companies to own a maximum of seven radio stations nationwide in order to purchase Houston radio stations KXYZ and KXYZ-FM for $1 million in shares and $1.5 million in bonds.[96] That year, Roone Arledge was named president of ABC Sports; the company also founded ABC Pictures, a film production company which released its first picture that year, the Ralph Nelson-directed Charly. It was renamed ABC Motion Pictures in 1979; the unit was dissolved in 1985.[97] The studio also operated two subsidiaries, Palomar Pictures International and Selmur Pictures. In July 1968, ABC continued its acquisitions in the amusement parks sector with the opening of ABC Marine World in Redwood City, California;[98] that park was sold in 1972 and demolished in 1986, with the land that occupied the park later becoming home to the headquarters of Oracle Corporation.

In July 1968, ABC Radio launched a special programming project for its FM stations, which was spearheaded by Allen Shaw,[99] a former program manager at WCFL in Chicago[100] who was approached by ABC Radio president Harold L. Neal to develop a format to compete with the new progressive rock and DJ-helmed stations.[101] The new concept called "LOVE Radio", which featured a limited selection of music genres, was launched on ABC's seven owned-and-operated FM stations in late November 1968; the concept replaced nearly all of the programming provided by these stations; however, several affiliates (such as KXYZ) retained the majority of their content.[101] In August 1970, Shaw announced that ABC FM's music choice policy should be reviewed to allow listeners access to many styles of music.[102]

Success in television (1971–1980)

In the early 1970s, ABC completed its transition to color; the decade as a whole would mark a turning point for ABC, as it began to pass CBS and NBC in the ratings to become the first place network.[104] It also began to use behavioral and demographic data to better determine what types of sponsors to sell advertising slots to and provide programming that would appeal towards certain audiences.[105] ABC's gains in audience share were greatly helped by the fact that several smaller markets had grown large enough to allow full-time affiliations from all three networks.

In 1970, ABC debuted Monday Night Football as part of its Monday prime time schedule;[106] the program became a hit for the network and served as the National Football League (NFL)'s premier game of the week until 2006, when Sunday Night Football, which moved to NBC that year as part of a broadcast deal that in turn saw MNF move to ESPN, took over as the league's marquee game. According to Goldenson, Monday Night Football helped earn ABC regularly score an audience share of 15%–16%; ABC Sports managed the budget for the Monday night time slot to reallocate the weekly budget for ABC's prime time schedule to just six days, as opposed to seven on competing networks.[107] 1970 also saw the premieres of several soap operas including the long-running All My Children, which ran on the network for 41 years.

In 1970, the FCC voted to pass the Financial Interest and Syndication Rules, a set of regulations aimed at preventing the major networks from monopolizing the broadcast landscape by barring them from owning any of the prime time programming that they broadcast.[108] In 1972, the new rules resulted in the company's decision to split ABC Films into two separate companies: the existing Worldvision Enterprises, which would produce and distribute programming for U.S. syndication, and ABC Circle Films as a production unit.[109][110] Worldvision was sold to a consortium of ABC executives for nearly $10 million.[110]

In the early 1970s, Michael Eisner, who joined ABC in 1966, became the network's program development manager.[112] He helped bring about ideas for many series including Happy Days (which originated as a segment on the anthology series Love, American Style),[112][113] as well as several soap operas; however, Eisner's main credit at ABC was for developing youth-oriented programming.[114] He was responsible for reacquiring the rights to the Looney Tunes-Merrie Melodies library, bringing the shorts back to ABC after spending several years on CBS, as well as developing The Jackson 5ive animated series and a series about the Osmonds, and greenlighting Super Friends, based on DC Comics' Justice League of America series[112] He also laid ground-work for the development of educational children's programming (predating the 1990 Congressional passage of the Children's Television Act through interstitials such as Time for Timer, The Bod Squad, and, perhaps most famously, Schoolhouse Rock!. Eisner left ABC in 1976 to become president of Paramount Pictures;[115] he would later become the President of ABC's eventual parent company, Disney.

In the spring of 1975, Fred Pierce, the newly appointed president of ABC Television, convinced Fred Silverman to become the first president and director of programming of the independent television production subsidiary ABC Entertainment, created from the network's namesake programming division.[116][117] In 1974, ABC premiered the detective series S.W.A.T. That same year, the network made the decision to compete with NBC's morning news-talk programToday. Its first attempt at such competition was AM America; however, that show's success was not straightforward.[118] One of its affiliates, WCVB-TV premiered morning show Good Day!. First premiering in 1973 as Good Morning!, it was groundbreaking for being entirely produced on the road and broadcasting from locations outside of the Boston area. Also, in the summer of 1975, ABC discovered that its Cleveland affiliate WEWS-TV was producing its own morning program The Morning Exchange, which debuted in 1972 and was now locally pre-empting AM America; it was the first morning show to utilize a set modeled after a living room, and established a concept now commonplace among network morning shows in which news and weather updates were featured at the top and bottom of each hour. Discovering that their formats seemed to appeal to their viewers,[118] the network became the first to adopt them for a new national morning show, Good Morning America, which debuted on November 3, 1975.[118]

In 1977, Henry Plitt, who at the time was associated with Thomas Klutznick, a real estate entrepreneur in Chicago, purchased the southern division of ABC Theatres, ABC Southern.[109] The sale stripped ABC of control over its theaters as a result of changes in the theater operation sector, mainly the fact that the population was migrating to the suburbs and moving away from older cinemas in larger cities[109] (Plitt Theatres was later purchased by Cineplex Odeon Corporation in 1987[109]).

For its part, the television network produced a few new hits during 1977: January saw the premiere of Roots, a miniseries based on an Alex Haleynovel that was published the previous year; in September, The Love Boat, a comedy-drama anthology series produced by Aaron Spelling which was based around the crew of a cruise ship and featured three stories centered partly on the ship's various passengers; although critically lambasted, the series turned out to be a ratings success and lasted nine seasons. Roots went on to become one of the highest-rated programs in American television history, with unprecedented ratings for its finale.[119][120] The success of Roots, Happy Days and The Love Boat allowed the network to take first place in the ratings for the first time in the 1976–77 season.[69] On September 13, 1977, the network debuted Soap, a controversial soap opera parody which became known for being the first television series to feature an openly gay main character (played by a then-unknown Billy Crystal); it last ran on the network on April 20, 1981.

Meanwhile, ABC News, which formed as a newly separate division, sought to become a global leader in television news.[121] In 1977, Roone Arledge was named president of the new ABC News in addition to being president of ABC Sports.[122] That same year, ABC launched a major expansion of its office facilities in New York City. The company first constructed a new 10-story building on land previously occupied by an abandoned warehouse on the corner of Columbus Avenue and West 66th Street; the facility that was built in its place is nicknamed "7 Lincoln Square" (although it is actually located at 149 Columbus Avenue). Meanwhile, a former parking lot, located at 30 West 67th Street, was transformed into an impressive 15-story building. Both buildings were completed in June 1979. WABC-TV moved its operations from offices at 77 West 66th Street to 149 Columbus Avenue, freeing up space for the ABC network to house some of its operations.

In June 1978, Arledge created the newsmagazine20/20;[123] after its first episode received harshly negative reviews, the program – which debuted as a summer series, before becoming a year-round program in 1979 – was immediately revamped to feature a mix of in-depth stories and interviews, with Hugh Downs appointed as its anchor (later paired alongside his former Today colleague Barbara Walters). In February 1979, ABC sold its recording division to MCA Inc. for $20 million; the label was discontinued by March 5 of that year, and all of its 300 employees were laid off[124] (the rights to the works of ABC Records and all of MCA's other labels have since been acquired by Universal Music Group).

ABC dominated the American television landscape during the 1970s and early 1980s (by 1980, the three major networks represented 90% of all prime-time television viewership in the U.S.[125]). Several flagship series debuted on the network during this time including Dynasty, an opulent drama from Aaron Spelling that became a hit when it premiered as a midseason series in 1981, five months before Spelling's other ABC hit Charlie's Angels ended its run. The network was also propelled during the early 1980s by the continued successes of Happy Days, Three's Company, Laverne & Shirley and Fantasy Island, and gained new hits in Too Close for Comfort, Soap spinoff Benson and Happy Days spinoff Mork & Mindy. In 1981, ABC (through its ABC Video Services division) launched the Alpha Repertory Television Service (ARTS), a cable channel operated as a joint venture with the Hearst Corporation offering cultural and arts programming, which aired as a nighttime service over the channel space of Nickelodeon.[126]

ESPN (logo pictured) was acquired by ABC in 1982.

On August 9, 1982, ABC purchased a 10% stake in the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network (ESPN) for $20 million; in exchange for the interest, ESPN gained the U.S. television rights to the British Open, which ABC had not been able to broadcast in its entirety.[127] The purchase provided ABC the option of purchasing additional shares of up to 49% under certain conditions,[128] which included the option to purchase at least 10% of Getty Oil's shares in the channel prior to January 2, 1984.[128]

In 1983, ABC sold KXYZ to the Infinity Broadcasting Corporation.[129] On January 4, 1984, The New York Times reported that ABC, through its subsidiary ABC Video Enterprises, had exercised its option to purchase up to 15% (or between $25 million and $30 million) of Getty Oil's shares in ESPN, which would allow it to expand its shares at a later date.[128] In June 1984, ABC's executive committee approved the company's interest acquisition in ESPN, and ABC arranged with Getty Oil to obtain an 80% stake in the channel, while selling the remaining 20% to Nabisco.[130] That year, ABC and Hearst reached an agreement with RCA to merge ARTS and competing arts service, The Entertainment Channel, into a single cable channel called Arts & Entertainment Television (A&E); the new channel subsequently leased a separate satellite transponder, ending its sharing agreement with Nickelodeon to become a 24-hour service.[126] Meanwhile, ABC withdrew from the theme park business for good when it sold the Silver Springs Nature Theme Park.[98]

In December 1984, Thomas S. Murphy, chief executive officer of Capital Cities Communications, contacted Leonard Goldenson about a proposal to merge their respective companies.[131] On March 16, 1985, ABC's executive committee accepted the merger offer,[132] which was formally announced on March 18, 1985, with Capital Cities purchasing ABC and its related properties for $3.5 billion and $118 for each of ABC's shares as well as a guarantee of 10% (or $3) for a total of $121 per share.[131] To finance the purchase, Capital Cities borrowed $2.1 billion from a consortium of banks, which sold certain assets that Capital Cites could not acquire or retain due to FCC ownership rules for a combined $900 million and sold off several cable television systems, which were sold to The Washington Post Company (forming the present-day Cable One).[133] The remaining $500 million was loaned by Warren Buffett, who promised that his company Berkshire Hathaway would purchase $3 million in shares, at $172.50 apiece.[133][134] Due to an FCC ban on same-market ownership of television and radio stations by a single company (although the deal would have otherwise complied with new ownership rules implemented by the FCC in January 1985, that allowed broadcasters to own a maximum of 12 television stations[131]), ABC and Capital Cities respectively decided to sell WXYZ-TV and Tampa independent station WFTS-TV to the E. W. Scripps Company (although Capital Cities/ABC originally intended to seek a cross-ownership waiver to retain WXYZ and Capital Cities-owned radio stations WJR and WHYT).

The merger between ABC and Capital Cities received federal approval on September 5, 1985. After the ABC/Capital Cities merger was finalized on January 3, 1986, the combined company – which became known as Capital Cities/ABC, Inc. – added four television stations (WPVI-TV/Philadelphia, KTRK-TV/Houston, KFSN-TV/Fresno and WTVD/Raleigh) and several radio stations to ABC's broadcasting portfolio, and also included Fairchild Publications and four newspapers (including The Kansas City Star and Fort Worth Star-Telegram).[135] It also initiated several changes in its management:[136] Frederick S. Pierce was named president of ABC's broadcasting division; Michael P. Millardi became vice president of ABC Broadcasting, and president of ABC Owned Stations and ABC Video Enterprises; John B. Sias was appointed president of the ABC Television Network; Brandon Stoddard became president of ABC Entertainment (a position to which he had been appointed in November 1985); and Roone Arledge became president of ABC News and ABC Sports. In February 1986, Thomas S. Murphy, who had been serving as CEO of Capital Cities since 1964, was appointed chairman and CEO emeritus of ABC.[137] Jim Duffy stepped down as ABC Television president for a management position at ABC Communications, a subsidiary that specialized in community service programming, including shows related to literary education.[121]

Following the initial success of these series, ABC revamped its Friday night schedule around family-friendly comedies in the late 1980s, culminating in the 1989 debut of the "TGIF" block (which promotions referenced stood for "Thank Goodness It's Funny").[138] Many of the series featured during the run of the block were produced by Miller-Boyett Productions, a Warner Bros.-based studio that briefly programmed the entire Friday lineup during the 1990–91 season (with Going Places joining Family Matters, Full House and Perfect Strangers on the "TGIF" schedule) and through its development deal with Paramount Television prior to 1986 (as Miller-Milkis, and later, Miller-Milkis-Boyett Productions), had earlier produced Happy Days and its various spinoffs among other series for the network.

In 1988, ABC constructed a new building to serve as the network's headquarters, located near the studios of WABC-TV on West 66th Street. The television network's restructuring program, launched in 1974, helped with the purchases and exchanges of nearly 70 stations during the late 1980s, and aided in increasing its ratings by more than 2 million viewers.[121]

In 1993, the FCC repealed the Financial Interest and Syndication Rules, once again allowing networks to hold interests in television production studios.[140] That same year, Capital Cities/ABC purchased the French animation studio DIC Entertainment;[141] it also signed an agreement with Time Warner Cable to carry its owned-and-operated television stations on the provider's systems in ABC O&O markets.[142] By that year, ABC had a total viewership share of 23.63% of American households, just below the limit of 25% imposed by the FCC.[140]

Daniel Burke departed from Capital Cities/ABC in February 1994, with Thomas Murphy taking over as president[137] before ceding control to Robert Iger. September 1993 saw the debut of NYPD Blue, a gritty police procedural from Steven Bochco (who created Doogie Howser, M.D. and the critically pilloried Cop Rock for ABC earlier in the decade); lasting twelve seasons, the drama became known for its boundary pushing of network television standards (particularly its occasional use of graphic language and rear nudity), which led some affiliates to initially refuse to air the show in its first season.

In order to compete with CNN, ABC proposed a 24-hour news channel called ABC Cable News, with plans to launch the network in 1995; however, the plan would ultimately be shelved by company management. ABC would reattempt such a concept in July 2004 with the launch of ABC News Now, a 24-hour news channel distributed for viewing on the Internet and mobile phones. On August 29, 1994, ABC purchased Flint, Michigan affiliate WJRT-TV and WTVG in Toledo, Ohio (which was previously affiliated with ABC from 1958 to 1970) from SJL Broadcast Management, with the latter switching to ABC once its contract with NBC expired two months after the purchase was finalized in early 1995.[143] Both stations were acquired as a contingency plan in the event that CBS reached an affiliation deal with WXYZ-TV (to replace WJBK, which switched to Fox as a result of that network's group affiliation agreement with New World Communications) in order to allow the network to retain some over-the-air presence in the Detroit market (the E.W. Scripps Company and ABC would reach a group affiliation deal that renewed affiliation agreements with WXYZ and WEWS, and switch four other stations, including two whose Fox affiliations were displaced by the New World deal, with the network).[144]

On July 31, 1995, The Walt Disney Company announced an agreement to merge with Capital Cities/ABC for $19 billion.[50][145] Disney shareholders approved the merger at a special conference in New York City on January 4, 1996,[145][146] with the acquisition of Capital Cities/ABC being completed on February 9; following the sale, Disney renamed its new subsidiary ABC Inc.[145] In addition to the ABC network, the Disney acquisition integrated ABC's ten owned-and-operated television and 21 radio stations; its 80% interest in ESPN, ownership interests in The History Channel, A&E Television Networks, and Lifetime Entertainment; and Capital Cities/ABC's magazine and newspaper properties into the company.[50] As FCC ownership rules forbade the company from keeping both it and KABC-TV, Disney sold Los Angeles independent station KCAL-TV to Young Broadcasting for $387 million.[147] On April 4, Disney sold the four newspapers that ABC had controlled under Capital Cities to Knight Ridder for $1.65 billion.[148] Following the merger, Thomas S. Murphy left ABC with Robert Iger taking his place as president and CEO.[149] Around the time of the merger, Disney's television production units had already produced series for the network such as Home Improvement and Boy Meets World, while the deal also allowed ABC access to Disney's children's programming library for its Saturday morning block. In 1998, ABC premiered the Aaron Sorkin-created sitcom Sports Night, centering on the travails of the staff of a SportsCenter-style sports news program; despite earning critical praise and multiple Emmy Awards, the series was cancelled in 2000 after two seasons.

In August 1999, ABC premiered a special series event, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, a game show based on the British program of the same title. Hosted throughout its ABC tenure by Regis Philbin, the program became a major ratings success throughout its initial summer run, which led ABC to renew Millionaire as a regular series, returning on January 18, 2000. At its peak, the program aired as much as six nights a week.[151] Buoyed by Millionaire, during the 1999–2000 season, ABC became the first network to move from third to first place in the ratings during a single television season. Millionaire ended its run on the network's primetime lineup after three years in 2002, with Buena Vista Television relaunching the show as a syndicated program (under that incarnation's original host Meredith Vieira) in September of that year.

On April 30, 2000, as a result of a carriage dispute with ABC, Time Warner Cable removed ABC owned-and-operated stations from the cable provider's systems in four markets (WABC-TV in New York City, KABC-TV in Los Angeles, KTRK in Houston and W-VHS-TV in Raleigh-Durham). The network had earlier reached an eleventh-hour deal to renew its carriage agreement with the provider on December 31, 1999.[142] ABC filed an emergency petition to the Federal Communications Commission on May 1 to force TWC to restore the affected stations; the FCC ruled in favor of ABC, ordering Time Warner Cable to restore the stations, doing so on the afternoon of May 2.[142] ABC ended the 2000–01 season as the most-watched network, ahead of NBC.

Networks affiliates approved a two-year affiliate agreement in 2002. In September 2006, Disney Chairman/CEO Michael Eisner outlined a proposed realignment of the ABC broadcast network day parts with the similar unit in its cable channels: ABC Sunday mornings with Disney Channels (Toon & Playhouse), ABC daytime with Soapnet and ABC prime time with ABC Family.[152] 2002 saw the debut of the network's first hit reality series, The Bachelor (the elimination-style dating show's success led to a spinoff, The Bachelorette, which premiered the following year, as well as two additionalspinoffs that later debuted in the early 2010s).

In 2004, ABC's average viewership declined by ten ratings points, landing the network in fourth place, behind NBC, CBS and Fox (by the following year, the combined season-ending average audience share of ABC, NBC and CBS represented only 32% of U.S. households[125]). However, during the 2004–05 season, the network experienced unexpected success with new series such as Desperate Housewives, Lost and Grey's Anatomy as well as reality series Dancing with the Stars, which helped ABC rise to second place, jumping ahead of CBS, but behind a surging Fox. On April 21, 2004, Disney announced a restructuring of its Disney Media Networks division with Marvin Jacobs being named president of ABC parent Disney–ABC Television Group, and ESPN president George Bodenheimer becoming co-CEO of the division with Jacobs, as well as president of ABC Sports.[153] On December 7, 2005, ABC Sports and ESPN signed an eight-year broadcast rights agreement with NASCAR, allowing ABC and ESPN to broadcast 17 Nextel Cup races each season (comprising just over half of the 36 races held annually) effective with the 2006 season.[154]

Separation of the radio network

Between May and September 2005, rumors circulated that Disney–ABC was considering a sale of ABC Radio, with Clear Channel Communications and Westwood One (which had earlier purchased NBC's radio division, as well as the distribution rights to CBS's, and the Mutual Broadcasting System during the 1990s) as potential buyers. On October 19, 2005, ABC announced the restructuring of the group into six divisions: Entertainment Communications, Communications Resources, Kids Communications, News Communications, Corporate Communications, and International Communications.

On February 6, 2007, The Walt Disney Company announced an agreement with Citadel Broadcasting to merge the ABC Radio Network with Citadel. The new entity, Citadel Communications,[155] was majority owned (52%) by Disney, in conjunction with Forstmann Little (32%) and former shareholders of Citadel Broadcasting (16%). Citadel eventually merged with Cumulus Media in September 2011.

Entertainment reorganization and struggles with new shows (2007–2009)

In February 2007, Disney announced that it would rename its Touchstone Television production unit as the ABC Television Studio (simplified to ABC Studios by that summer), as part of a corporate move to eliminate secondary production brands such as Buena Vista.[156] In May 2007, ABC unveiled a new image campaign, revolving around the slogan "Start Here", which highlighted the multi-platform availability of ABC's program content.[157]

The Writers Guild of America strike that halted production of network programs for much of the 2007–08 season affected the network in 2007–08 and 2008–09, as various ABC shows that premiered in 2007, such as Dirty Sexy Money, Pushing Daisies, Eli Stone and Samantha Who?, did not live to see a third season; other series such as Boston Legal and the U.S. version of Life on Mars suffered from low viewership, despite the former, a spin off of The Practice, being a once-highlighted breakout series when it debuted in 2005.[158] One of the network's strike-replacement programs during that time was the game show Duel, which premiered in December 2007. The program would become a minor success for the network during its initial six-episode run, which led ABC to renew Duel as a regular series starting in April 2008. However, Duel suffered from low viewership during its run as a regular series, and ABC canceled the program after sixteen episodes. On August 15, 2008, Disney denied rumors started by Caris & Co. that it would be selling the ten ABC owned-and-operated stations.[159]

In early 2009, Disney–ABC Television Group merged ABC Entertainment and ABC Studios into a new division, ABC Entertainment Group, which would be responsible for both its production and broadcasting operations.[160][161][162][163][164] During this reorganization, the group announced that it would lay off 5% of its workforce.[165] On April 2, 2009, Citadel Communications announced that it would rebrand ABC Radio as Citadel Media;[166] however, ABC News continued to provide news content for Citadel. On December 22, Disney–ABC Television Group announced a partnership with Apple Inc. to make individual episodes of ABC and Disney Channel programs available for purchase on iTunes.[167]

Current state

In March 2010, reports suggested that The Walt Disney Company was considering spinning off ABC into an independent company because "it [did not] add a lot of value to Disney's other divisions".[168] The company entered advanced negotiations with two private equity firms to sell ABC; however, the planned sale was cancelled as a result of an FBI investigation into allegations of attempted insider trading by an ex-employee which they later denied.[169]

The network began running into some trouble in the ratings by 2010. That year, the sixth and final season of Lost became the drama's lowest-rated season since its debut in 2004. Ratings for the once-instant hit Ugly Betty collapsed dramatically after it was moved to Fridays at the start of its fourth season in the fall of 2009; an attempt to boost ratings by moving the dramedy to Wednesdays failed, with its ultimate cancellation by the network eliciting negative reaction from the public, and particularly the show's fanbase.[170] With the network's two former hit shows now out of the picture, the network's remaining top veteran shows Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy, and another hit drama Brothers & Sisters, all ended the 2009–10 season recorded their lowest ratings ever.

Among the few bright spots during this season were the midseason crime dramedy Castle as well as the success of two family sitcoms that anchored the network's revamped Wednesday comedy lineup, The Middle and Modern Family, the latter of which was both a critical and commercial success. Shark Tank (based on the Dragon's Den reality format) also became a midseason sleeper hit on Sundays in the spring of 2010; the following season, it became the tentpole of the network's Friday night schedule, gradually helping make ABC a strong competitor (after being paired with 20/20 and beginning with the 2012–13 season, the Tim Allen sitcom Last Man Standing) against CBS' long-dominant drama/reality lineup on that night for the first time since the "TGIF" lineup ended in 2000.

The network's troubles with sustaining existing series and gaining new hits spilled over into its 2010–11 schedule: ABC's dramas during that season continued to fail, with the midseason forensic investigation drama Body of Proof being the only one that was renewed for a second season.[171] The network also struggled to establish new comedies to support the previous year's debuts, with only late-season premiere Happy Endings earning a second season.[171] Meanwhile, the new lows hit by Brothers & Sisters led to its cancellation, and the previous year's only drama renewal, V, also failed to earn another season after a low-rated midseason run.[172] Despite this and another noticeable ratings decline, ABC would manage to outrate NBC for third place by a larger margin than the previous year.[173]

With relatively little buzz surrounding its 2010–11 pilots, compounded by a sexual harassment lawsuit against him, Stephen McPherson resigned as ABC Entertainment Group president on July 27, 2010. Paul Lee (who previously served as the president of sister cable channel ABC Family) was announced as his replacement that same day.[174][175]

On April 14, 2011, ABC canceled the long-running soap operas All My Children and One Life to Live after 41 and 43 years on the air, respectively[176] (following backlash from fans, ABC sold the rights to both shows to Prospect Park, which eventually revived the soaps on Hulu for one additional season in 2013 and with both companies suing one another for allegations of interference with the process of reviving the shows, failure to pay licensing fees and issues over ABC's use of certain characters from One Life to Live on General Hospital during the transition[177][178]). The talk/lifestyle show that replaced One Life to Live, The Revolution, failed to generate satisfactory ratings and was in turn canceled after only seven months. The 2011–12 season saw ABC drop to fourth place in the 18–49 demographic despite renewing a handful of new shows (including freshmen dramas Scandal, Revenge and Once Upon a Time) for second seasons.[179]

In 2012, ABC News and Univision Communications announced a partnership to launch an English-language cable news channel primarily aimed at younger English-speaking Hispanics; the new network, Fusion, launched on October 28, 2013.[180][181][182] The 2012–13 season failed to live up to the previous year, with only one drama, Nashville, and one comedy, The Neighbors, earning a second season renewal.

The 2013–14 season was a slight improvement for ABC with three new hits in The Goldbergs, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Resurrection, all of which were renewed; however, that season saw the cancellations of holdovers The Neighbors (which languished in its new Friday time slot despite being bookended by Last Man Standing and Shark Tank) and Suburgatory. NBC, which had lagged behind ABC for eight years, finished the season in first place in the 18–49 demographic for the first time since 2004, and in second place in total viewership behind long-dominant CBS. ABC itself would finish the season in third place as Fox crashed to fourth in both demographics.

The 2014–15 season saw moderate hits in Black-ish (the first series on the four major U.S. networks to feature a predominately African-American cast since 2006) and major successes in How to Get Away with Murder (which, alongside Grey's Anatomy and Scandal, became one of the centerpieces of a new Thursday drama lineup, "TGIT", composed of dramas executive produced by Shonda Rhimes). However, that season saw cancellations of Resurrection and Revenge.

By November 2015, ABC was creating a digital slate called internal ABC3 for its WatchABC video streaming app.[183] The ABC3 slate of 7 comedy and lifestyle short series debuted under the ABCd banner along with 38 older series under a revamped and renamed ABC app on July 13, 2016.[184]

Programming

The ABC television network provides 89 hours of regularly scheduled network programming each week. The network provides 22 hours of prime time programming to affiliated stations from 8:00–11:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday (all times Eastern and Pacific Time) and 7:00–11:00 p.m. on Sundays.

Daytime programming is also provided from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. weekdays (with a one-hour break at 12:00 p.m. Eastern/Pacific for stations to air newscasts, other locally produced programming such as talk shows, or syndicated programs) featuring the talk/lifestyle shows The View and The Chew and the soap opera General Hospital. ABC News programming includes Good Morning America from 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. weekdays (along with one-hour weekend editions); nightly editions of ABC World News Tonight (whose weekend editions are occasionally subject to abbreviation or preemption due to sports telecasts overrunning into the program's timeslot), the Sunday political talk showThis Week, early morning news programs World News Now and America This Morning and the late night newsmagazine Nightline. Late nights feature the weeknight talk show Jimmy Kimmel Live!.

The network's three-hour Saturday morning children's programming timeslot is programmed by syndication distributor Litton Entertainment, which produces Litton's Weekend Adventure under an arrangement in which the programming block is syndicated exclusively to ABC owned-and-operated and affiliated stations, rather than being leased out directly by the network to Litton.

Sports programming is also provided on some weekend afternoons at any time from 12:00 to 6:00 p.m. Eastern Time (9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Pacific) and, during college football season, during prime time on Saturday nights as part of the Saturday Night Football package. Due to the erratic and (outside of college football season) highly inconsistent scheduling of sports programming on weekend afternoons since ESPN took over responsibilities for ABC's sports division in 2006, ABC carries the ESPN Sports Saturday block on Saturday late afternoons (featuring various ESPN-produced documentaries), and on Sundays either encores of primetime reality series, cancelled series being burned off that had no room on the primetime schedule, occasional theatrical films which were acquired by the network in the early to mid-2000s that no longer have a primetime slot to air in or more recently, figure skating and gymnastics specials supplied by Disson Skating, when no sports telecasts are scheduled, usually airing between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific Time. During the summer, ABC airs ESPN-produced highlight compilation programs for The Open Championship golf and The Wimbledon tennis tournaments to provide some presence for both events on American broadcast television. ABC also carries various X Games weekend events not broadcast by ESPN. ABC airs NBA games on Sundays, normally starting in January as "NBA Sunday Showcase" during the regular season, and shows Christmas Day games, regularly between 2–7 PM ET, and NBA playoff games during the weekends, and exclusive rights to the NBA Finals.

In 2015, ABC began airing the ESPY Awards show, which normally aired on ESPN before 2015. In the ABC debut of the ESPY's, Caitlyn Jenner was awarded the Arthur Ash Award for courage, after she announced in a 20/20 interview, that she was becoming transgender.

Programming library

ABC owns nearly all its in-house television and theatrical productions made from the 1970s onward, with the exception of certain co-productions with producers (for example, The Commish is now owned by the estate of its producer, Stephen Cannell). Worldwide video rights are currently owned by various companies, for example, MGM Home Entertainment via 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment owns U.S. video rights to many of ABC's feature films.

When the FCC imposed its fin-syn rules in 1970, ABC proactively created two companies: Worldvision Enterprises as a syndication distributor, and ABC Circle Films as a production company. However, between the publication and implementation of these regulations, the separation of the network's catalog was made in 1973. The broadcast rights to pre-1973 productions were transferred to Worldvision, which became independent in the same year. The company has been sold several times since Paramount Television acquired it in 1999, and has most recently been absorbed into CBS Television Distribution, a unit of CBS Corporation. Nonetheless, Worldvision sold portions of its catalog, including the Ruby-Spears and Hanna-Barbera libraries, to Turner Broadcasting System in 1991. With Disney's 1996 purchase of ABC, ABC Circle Films was absorbed into Touchstone Television, a Disney subsidiary which in turn was renamed ABC Studios in 2007.[156]

Stations

Since its inception, ABC has had many affiliated stations, which include WABC-TV and WPVI-TV, the first two stations to carry the network's programming. As of March 2015[update], ABC has eight owned-and-operated stations, and current and pending affiliation agreements with 235 additional television stations encompassing 49 states, the District of Columbia, four U.S. possessions, Bermuda and Saba;[186][187] this makes ABC the largest U.S. broadcast television network by total number of affiliates. The network has an estimated national reach of 96.26% of all households in the United States (or 300,794,157 Americans with at least one television set).

The network has the unusual distinction of having separately owned and operated affiliates which serve the same market in Tampa, Florida (WFTS-TV and WWSB) and Grand Rapids, Michigan (WZZM and WOTV), with an analogous situation arising in Kansas City, Missouri (KMBC-TV and KQTV). KQTV is licensed to St. Joseph, Missouri, which is designated by Nielsen as a separate market from Kansas City despite being located within 55 miles (89 km) of one another, while WWSB and WOTV serve areas that do not receive an adequate signal from their market's primary ABC affiliate (in the case of WWSB, this dates back to when WTSP was Tampa's primary ABC affiliate prior to 1994, with the former being necessitated to serve the southern part of the Tampa market including the station's city of license, Sarasota, due to WTSP's transmitter being short-spaced to avoid interfering with the analog signal of Miami affiliate WPLG – which like WTSP, broadcast on VHF channel 10).

The Sinclair Broadcast Group is the largest operator of ABC stations by numerical total, owning or providing services to 28 ABC affiliates and two additional subchannel-only affiliates; Sinclair owns the largest ABC subchannel affiliate by market size, WABM-DT2/WDBB-DT2 in the Birmingham market, which serve as repeaters of WBMA-LD (the largest low-power "Big Four" affiliate by market size, which itself is also simulcast on a subchannel of former WBMA satellite WGWW, owned by Sinclair partner company Howard Stirk Holdings). The E. W. Scripps Company is the largest operator of ABC stations in terms of overall market reach, owning 15 ABC-affiliated stations (including affiliates in larger markets such as Cleveland, Phoenix, Detroit and Denver), and through its ownership of Phoenix affiliate KNXV, Las Vegas affiliate KTNV-TV and Tucson affiliate KGUN-TV, the only provider of ABC programming for the majority of Arizona (outside of the Yuma-El Centro market) and Southern Nevada.

Facilities and studios

All of ABC's owned-and-operated stations and affiliates have had their own facilities and studios, but transverse entities have been created to produce national programming. As a result, television series were produced by ABC Circle Films beginning in 1962 and by Touchstone Television beginning in 1985, before Touchstone was reorganized as ABC Studios in February 2007. Since the 1950s, ABC has had two main production facilities: the ABC Television Center (now The Prospect Studios) on Prospect Avenue in Hollywood, California, shared with the operations of KABC-TV until 1999; and the ABC Television Center, East, a set of studios located throughout the New York City.

ABC owns several facilities in New York grouped mainly on West 66th Street. The main set of facilities is on the corner of Columbus Avenue and West 66th Street. In total, ABC's facilities occupy a combined 9,755 square meters (105,000 sq ft) of the 14,864 square meters (159,990 sq ft) of the blocks they encompass. The aforementioned set includes:

The official headquarters at 77 West 66th Street, a 22-story building built in 1988 on a 175 feet (53 m) × 200 feet (61 m) plot;

A pair of buildings at 149–155 Columbus Avenue (with one building comprising 10 stories and the other seven, and both containing glass bays connecting them to each other), constructed on a 100 feet (30 m) × 200 feet (61 m) plot;

30–34 West 67th Street, a 15-story building with a facade on the 66th and 67th Street on a 100 feet (30 m) × 100 feet (30 m) plot;

The former First Battery of New York National Guard, a five-story building located at number 56 on the other side of the street, on a 174 feet (53 m) × 100 feet (30 m) plot;

ABC also owns 47 West 66th Street, one of three 14-story buildings on a 375 feet (114 m) x 100 feet (30 m) plot. From 1983 to 2013, Disney leased 70,000 square feet (6,500 m2) at 157 Columbus Avenue, just on the other side of 67th Street.[188]

ABC also owns the Times Square Studios at 1500 Broadway on land in Times Square owned by a development fund for the 42nd Street Project; opened in 1999, Good Morning America and Nightline are broadcast from this particular facility. ABC News has premises a little further on West 66th Street, in a six-story building occupying a 196 feet (60 m) × 379 feet (116 m) plot at 121–135 West End Avenue. The block of West 66th street between Central Park West and Columbus Ave which houses the ABC News building was renamed Peter Jennings Way in 2006 in honor of the recently deceased longtime ABC News chief anchor and anchor of World News Tonight.[189]

Related services

Video-on-demand services

ABC maintains several video on demand services for delayed viewing of the network's programming, including a traditional VOD service called ABC on Demand, which is carried on most traditional cable and IPTV providers. The Walt Disney Company is also a part-owner of Hulu (as part of a consortium that includes, among other parties, the respective parent companies of NBC and Fox, NBCUniversal and 21st Century Fox), and has offered full-length episodes of most of ABC's programming through the streaming service since July 6, 2009 (which are available for viewing on Hulu's website and mobile app, and since July 2016, through Yahoo! View as part of Hulu's spin-off of their free service to Yahoo),[190] as part of an agreement reached in April that year that also allowed Disney to acquire a 27% ownership stake in Hulu.

In May 2013, ABC launched "WATCH ABC", a revamp of its traditional multi-platform streaming services encompassing the network's existing streaming portal at ABC.com and a mobile app for smartphones and tablet computers; in addition to providing full-length episodes of ABC programs, the service allows live programming streams of local ABC affiliates in select markets (the first such offering by a U.S. broadcast network). Similar to sister network ESPN's WatchESPN service (which originated the "WATCH" brand used by the streaming services of Disney's television networks), live streams of ABC stations are only available to authenticated subscribers of participating pay television providers in certain markets. New York City O&O WABC-TV and Philadelphia O&O WPVI-TV were the first stations to offer streams of their programming on the service (with a free preview for non-subscribers through June 2013), with the six remaining ABC O&Os offering streams by the start of the 2013–14 season. Hearst Television also reached a deal to offer streams of its ABC affiliates (including stations in Boston, Kansas City, Milwaukee and West Palm Beach) on the service, though as of 2016 these stations are only available for live-streaming for DirecTV subscribers.[191][192]

The most recent episodes of the network's shows are usually made available on WATCH ABC, Hulu and ABC on Demand the day after their original broadcast. In addition, ABC on Demand (like the video-on-demand television services provided by the other U.S. broadcast networks) disallows fast forwarding of accessed content. Restrictions implemented by Disney–ABC Television Group on January 7, 2014 restrict streaming of the most recent episode of any ABC program on Hulu and WATCH ABC until eight days after their initial broadcast, in order to encourage live or same-week (via both DVR and cable on demand) viewing, with day-after-air streaming on either service limited to subscribers of participating pay television providers (such as Comcast, Verizon FiOS and Time Warner Cable) using an ISP account via an authenticated user login.

ABC HD

Logo for ABC HD.

ABC's master feed is transmitted in 720phigh definition, the native resolution format for The Walt Disney Company's U.S. television properties. However, most of Hearst Television's 16 ABC-affiliated stations transmit the network's programming in 1080i HD, while 11 other affiliates owned by various companies carry the network feed in 480istandard definition[186] either due to technical considerations for affiliates of other major networks that carry ABC programming on a digital subchannel or because a primary feed ABC affiliate has not yet upgraded their transmission equipment to allow content to be presented in HD.

ABC began its conversion to high definition with the launch of its simulcast feed, ABC HD, on September 16, 2001 at the start of the 2001–02 season, with its scripted prime time series becoming the first shows to upgrade to the format. The network's slate of freshmen scripted series were broadcast in HD from their debuts, while all scripted series held over from the 2000–01 season were converted from standard-definition to high definition beginning that season.

With the 2011 cancellation of Supernanny, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition became the only remaining program on the network's schedule that was broadcast in 4:3 standard definition. All of the network's programming has been presented in HD since January 2012 (with the exception of certain holiday specials produced prior to 2005 – such as the Peanuts specials and Rudolph's Shiny New Year – which continue to be presented in 4:3 SD), when Extreme Makeover: Home Edition ended its run as a regular series and One Life to Live (which had been presented in 16:9 standard definition since 2010) also ended its ABC run. The affiliate-syndicated Saturday morning E/I block Litton's Weekend Aventure is also broadcast in HD, and was the first children's program block on any U.S. broadcast network to feature programs available in the format upon its September 2011 debut.

On September 1, 2016, ABC began to use 16:9 framing for all of most graphical imaging (primarily the network's logo bug, in-program promotions and generic closing credit sequences as well as sports telecasts, where the BottomLine and scoreboard elements now extend outside the 4:3 frame), requiring its stations and pay television providers to display its programming in a compulsory widescreen format, either in high definition or standard definition; with the change, some programs (such as Grey's Anatomy, The Goldbergs and Quantico) also began positioning their main on-screen credits outside of the 4:3 aspect ratio. This leaves CBS and The CW as the last two major networks to continue to prefer 4:3 framing for graphics.

Analysis

Since its inception, the American Broadcasting Company has evolved with the development of various assets, many of which have been sold. The company originates from a radio network that went on the air in 1927, was forced by law to separate from its original parent company, and then became an independent company. The new company diversified rapidly in the emerging medium of television.

The company diversified again through its mergers with United Paramount Theatres in 1950 and later with Capital Cities in 1985. Under UPT, ABC was a sister company to a large theater chain, while under Capital Cities, it was a sister company to various publications. However, ABC was separated from its theaters by the time of the Capital Cities merger, and from its sister newspapers during Disney's purchase of the network in 1996.

A 1993 annual corporate report indicated that 70% of Capital Cities/ABC's revenue came from the sale of advertising space, and for the rest, the two main positions were subscriptions to pay television channels and direct sales of books and journals.[140]

The ABC logo has evolved many times since the network's creation in 1943. The network's first logo, introduced in 1946, consisted of a television screen containing the letters "T" and "V", with a vertical ABC microphone in the center,[193] referencing the network's roots in radio. When the ABC-UPT merger was finalized in 1953, the network introduced a new logo based on the seal of the Federal Communications Commission, with the letters "ABC" enclosed in a circular shield surmounted by the bald eagle.[193] In 1957, just before the television network began its first color broadcasts, the ABC logo consisted of a tiny lowercase "abc" in the center of a large lowercase letter a, a design known as the "ABC Circle A".[193]

In 1962, graphic designer Paul Rand redesigned the ABC logo into its best-known (and current) form, with the lowercase letters "abc" enclosed in a single black circle. The new logo debuted on-air for ABC's promos at the start of the 1963–64 season. The letters are strongly reminiscent of the Bauhaus typeface designed by Herbert Bayer in the 1920s,[194] but also share similarities with several other fonts, such as ITC Avant Garde and Horatio, and most closely resembling Chalet. The logo's simplicity made it easier to redesign and duplicate, which conferred a benefit for ABC (mostly before the advent of computer graphics).

The 1970s and 1980s saw the emergence of many graphical imaging packages for the network which based the logo's setting mainly on special lighting effects then under development including white, blue, pink, rainbow neon and glittering dotted lines. Among the "ABC Circle" logo's many variants was a 1977 ID sequence that featured a bubble on a black background representing the circle with glossy gold letters, and as such, was the first ABC identification card to have a three-dimensional appearance.[193]

In 1983, for the 40th anniversary of the network's founding, ID sequences had the logo appear in a gold CGI design on a blue background, accompanied by the slogan "That Special Feeling" in a script font.[193] Ten years later, in 1993, the "ABC Circle" logo reverted to its classic white-on-black color scheme, but with gloss effects on both the circle and the letters, and a bronze border surrounding the circle.[193] The ABC logo first appeared as a on-screen bug in the 1993–94 season, appearing initially only for 60 seconds at the beginning of an act or segment, before appearing throughout programs (except during commercial breaks) beginning in the 1995–96 season; the respective iterations of the translucent logo bug were also incorporated within program promotions until the 2011–12 season.

In 1998, the network began using a minimalist graphical identity, designed by Pittard Sullivan, featuring a small black-and-white "ABC Circle" logo on a yellow background (promotions during this time also featured a sequence of still photos of the stars of its programs during the timeslot card as well as the schedule sequence that began each night's prime time lineup).[193] A new four-note theme tune was introduced alongside the package, based around the network's "We Love TV" image campaign introduced that year, creating an audio signature on par with the NBC chimes, CBS' various three-note soundmarks (including the current version used since 2000) and the Fox Fanfare. The four-note signature has been updated with every television season thereafter (though variants of it used since the 1998–99 season remain in use during the production company vanity cards shown following the closing credits of most programs). In the fall of 2015, ABC stopped with its 1998–2002 four-note jingles for promotions and production company vanity cards following the closing credits of most of its programs over seventeen years; now it has a different and adventure-type music (with the drums of the network's four-note signature in the ending). The old four-note theme tune is still used by ABC on Demand to the beginning of the ABC show.

In 2000, ABC launched a web-based promotional campaign focused around its circle logo, also called "the dot", in which comic book character Little Dot prompted visitors to "download the dot", a program which would cause the ABC logo to fly around the screen and settle in the bottom-right corner.[195] The network hired the Troika Design Group to design and produce its 2001–02 identity, which continued using the black-and-yellow coloring of the logo and featured dots and stripes in various promotional and identification spots.[196]

On June 16, 2007, ABC began to phase in a new imaging campaign for the upcoming 2007–08 season, "Start Here". Also developed by Troika, the on-air design was intended to emphasize the availability of ABC content across multiple platforms (in particular, using a system of icons representing different devices, such as television, computers and mobile devices), and "simplify and bring a lot more consistency and continuity to the visual representation of ABC". The ABC logo was also significantly redesigned as part of the transition, with a glossy "ball" effect that was specifically designed for HD. On-air, the logo was accompanied by animated water and ribbon effects. Red ribbons were used to represent the entertainment division, while blue ribbons were used for ABC News.[157][197]

A revised version of the ABC logo was introduced for promotions for the 2013–14 season during the network's upfront presentation on May 14, 2013, and officially introduced on-air on June 17 (although some affiliates implemented the new design prior to then), as part of an overhaul of ABC's identity by design agency LoyalKaspar. The updated logo carries a simpler gloss design than the previous version, and contains lettering more closely resembling Paul Rand's original version of the circle logo. The logo is displayed on-air, online and in print advertising in four variants shading the respective color used with the circle design's native black coloring: a gold version is primarily used on entertainment-oriented outlets (such as ABC.com, WATCH ABC, and by ABC Studios) and the on-screen bug; steel blue and dark grey versions are used primarily by ABC News; a red version is used for ESPN on ABC, while all four variants are used selectively in advertising and by affiliates. A new custom typeface, "ABC Modern" (which was inspired by the logotype), was also created for use in advertising and other promotional materials.[198]

International development

The first attempts to internationalize the ABC television network date back to the 1950s, after Leonard Goldenson, following the United Paramount Theatres model, tried to use on ABC the same strategies he had made in expanding UPT's theater operation to the international market.[199] Leonard Goldenson said that ABC's first international activity was broadcasting the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in June 1953; CBS and NBC were unable to cover the coronation live due to respective issues with technical problems and flight delays.[200] NBC's plane landed in Latin Americawhere?, leading ABC to learn of subsidiaries in that region.[200] Goldenson tried international investing, having ABC invest in the Latin American market, acquiring a 51% interest in a network covering Central America.[201] Goldenson also cited interest in Japan in the early 1950s,[202] acquiring a 5% stake in two new domestic networks, the Mainichi Broadcasting System in 1951 and Nihon Educational Television in 1957.[202] Goldenson also invested in broadcasting properties in Beirut in the mid-1960s.[203]

The idea was to create a network of wholly and partially owned channels, and affiliates to rebroadcast the network's programs. In 1959, this rerun activity was completed with program syndication, with ABC Films selling programs to networks not owned by ABC.[204] The arrival of satellite television ended the need for ABC to hold interests in other countries;[109] many governments also wanted to increase their independence and strengthen legislation to limit foreign ownership of broadcasting properties. As a result, ABC was forced to sell all of its interests in international networks, mainly in Japan and Latin America, in the 1970s.[69]

A second period of international expansion is linked to that of the ESPN network in the 1990s, and policies enacted in the 2000s by Disney Media Networks (which included the expansion of several of the company's U.S.-based cable networks including Disney Channel and its spinoffs Toon Disney, Playhouse Disney and Jetix; although Disney also sold its 33% stake in European sports channel Eurosport for $155 million in June 2000[205]). In contrast to Disney's other channels, ABC is broadcast in the United States, although the network's programming is syndicated in many countries. The policy regarding wholly owned international networks was revived in 2004 when on September 27 of that year, ABC announced the launch of ABC1, a free-to-air channel in the United Kingdom owned by the ABC Group.[206] However, on September 8, 2007, Disney announced that it would discontinue ABC1 citing to the channel's inability to attain sustainable viewership.[207] With ABC1's shutdown that October, the company's attempt to develop ABC International were discontinued.[207]

Prior to the ABC1 closure, on October 10, 2006, Disney–ABC Television Group entered into an agreement with satellite provider Dish TV to carry its ABC News Now channel in India.[208]